Shalom JTF readers,
It is Wednesday and I will have very little time as Shabbat approaches so I would like to post this thread before I get caught up in the events of this week. I have been summoned into the court for Jury Duty which I hate, and it is interfering with the schedule I have for work. I hope I get excused tomorrow morning...
We are beginning the book of Vayikra, otherwise known as Leviticus, which contains a littany of laws regarding the Holy service of the Kohen and the Levi.
Here is what Chabad writes in the Parsha in a Nutshell:
G‑d calls to Moses from the Tent of Meeting, and communicates to him the laws of the korbanot, the animal and meal offerings brought in the Sanctuary. These include:
• The “ascending offering” (olah) that is wholly raised to G‑d by the fire atop the altar;
• Five varieties of “meal offering” (minchah) prepared with fine flour, olive oil and frankincense;
• The “peace offering” (shelamim), whose meat was eaten by the one bringing the offering, after parts are burned on the altar and parts are given to the kohanim (priests);
• The different types of “sin offering” (chatat) brought to atone for transgressions committed erroneously by the high priest, the entire community, the king or the ordinary Jew;
• The “guilt offering” (asham) brought by one who has misappropriated property of the Sanctuary, who is in doubt as to whether he transgressed a divine prohibition, or who has committed a “betrayal against G‑d” by swearing falsely to defraud a fellow man.
Here is Rabbi Weisblum's discussion of the Parsha...